Koop's Scoop

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Kupec Family visit to NY, July 2006

Kupec Family visit to NY, July 2006
We just concluded a wonderful visit to the Hudson Valley of New York over the July 4th holiday to see Steve's family.Some of the key highlights include:

a) a tour of Opus 40 sculpture garden in Saugerties, NY. We spent a couple of hours touring the grounds and climbing the stone stairways. The kids had a great time trying to find new paths thru the maze-like stone walls. For more see: http://www.agilitynut.com/h/opus40.html

b) Fireworks in Gardiner, NY. Our timing was perfect! We arrived just as it was getting dark. Found a great parking spot in a small shopping plaza just minutes away and walked to the fireworks spot. It was an amazing display for a small town like Gardiner. They pulled out all the stops!

c) A visit to Marie & Seamus' house in Cold Spring, NY. Wow, what a view! They sit on the very peak of Cold Spring and can see West Point across the Hudson River. The back of the house is all glass with a patio that doesn’t end! Well, actually it does end at a lovely build in pool. The kids had a great time playing. The climax of the evening was to be the fireworks display at West Point, but a brief rain burst put our that fire. Seamus saved the “day” with a great fireworks display of his own.

d) visits to Chris & Anique's house in Big Indian, NY. A fun day at the farm with an afternoon spent exploring the creek. The spring floods have really changed the Esopus creek’s path. Last year’s watering hole is gone, but a new one has formed. Chris has clearned most of the debris, but several large trees may become permanent fixtures.

e) Mom's birthday dinner at Postage Inn in Tillson, NY. We were greeted at the door by Jimmy (the kitchen door that is...) and had the dinnig room to ourselves since we came mid-week. The food was great as always. http://www.thepostageinn.com/

f) Boating on the Hudson River with Klinger family in Chelsea, NY. It was hard to get the kids back in the boat after all the tubing they did. I got some great pictures of their adventure. As always, the picnic with Denise and Pete was the highlight for the adults. Their boat has two tables, so we had an adult table with pate, cheese, and other goodies and a kids’ table with salami fruit and cheese. The kids ate their food then came and invaded our lunch! I think the swimming made them very hungry.

g) A party at Denise & Pete's house in Wappingers Falls, NY. Marie, Seamus and Grace; Marty and Brianna; Quido and Scarlette; and the Klinger clan were all there. It was great to see everyone again. It really felt like “old times”. Everyone is doing great and the kids are all getting big! I took the usual group photos.

h) A visit to Pakatakan Farmers Market at the Round Barn in Halcottsville, NY. I think this is Sean’s favorite place! He eats his way through the market. First it was waffles with chocolate and whip cream. We still don’t know how they get their waffles so light and crunchy. Then it was sausage on a biscuit. Finally, the honey sticks were found. We can never get away from there without the honey sticks. I stocked up on my favorite hand made soaps and Steve and Chris bought supplies for dinner. The address is: Pakatakan Farmers Market Round Barn46696 Rt. 30 Halcottsville, NY.

All in all, it was an awesome visit!

Photo Journal:http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=las4ycj.6gj184qn&x=1&y=a7u203